PMID: 24673104

Authors:

Ernst J, Neubert T, Liu M, Sperry S, Zuccola H, Turnbull A, Fleck B, Kargo W, Woody L, Chiang P, Tran D, Chen W, Snyder PW, Alcacio T, Nezami A, Reynolds J, Alvi K, Goulet L, Stamos D

Title:

Identification of novel HSP90alpha/beta isoform selective inhibitors using structure-based drug design. Demonstration of potential utility in treating CNS disorders such as Huntington's disease.

Journal:

J Med Chem. 2014 Mar 27.

Abstract:

A structure-based drug design strategy was used to optimize a novel benzolactam series of HSP90alpha/beta inhibitors to achieve >1,000-fold selectivity versus the HSP90 endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondrial isoforms (GRP94 and TRAP1, respectively). Selective HSP90alpha/beta inhibitors were found to be equipotent to pan-HSP90 inhibitors in promoting the clearance of mutant huntingtin protein (mHtt) in vitro, however with less cellular toxicity. Improved tolerability profiles may enable the use of HSP90alpha/beta selective inhibitors in treating chronic neurodegenerative indications such as Huntington's disease (HD). A potent, selective, orally available HSP90alpha/beta inhibitor was identified (compound 31) that crosses the blood brain barrier. Compound 31 demonstrated proof of concept by successfully reducing brain Htt levels following oral dosing in rats.